Know the Difference
by A Crownless Queen
Summary: Iron Will was an infamous villain, known by heroes to be as deadly and vicious as her husband, All for One, until her son, Izuku Midoriya, was born and she stepped down to become Hisashi Midoriya's loving wife, giving him the home life she felt he needed. Izuku grows up never questioning his parents' principles... until he meets All Might. [Slow burn/slow build AU. Villain Izuku.]
1. CHAPTER 01: THE NORMTHE FAMILY BUSINESS

_First of all, this fic is entirely my friend Rune's fault. She threw out the idea of "villain family AU where Inko's a villain and married to All for One" in a Discord server and plotted it with me for a week. This story is more of a Discord collaboration between us that I got attached to and decided to write._

 _Secondly, this fic is going to be long, which is why it's slow build/slow burn. (My other 200k WIP took 30 chapters to get the main ship to admit they're in love with each other... and the main genre is romance.) The main pairing will be BakuDeku- eventually, probably in the second or third act. I promise it will be worth it. (I hope?) There will probably be other pairings that pop up over time, but romance really won't be the central focus of this fic anyway._

 _Finally, I'm super excited for this story! I really got attached to the idea of Izuku being raised by All for One and all the fallout due to that, so_ hopefully _I don't mess it up! I'm going to aim for update weekly, unless I get busy with life or academics. And yes, when the angst comes, I guarantee that I will be cackling at your misery. :)_

* * *

 **CHAPTER ONE: THE NORM/THE FAMILY BUSINESS**

* * *

" **FATHER** , do you have ten minutes to talk with me or are you busy right now?"

The papers he carried in his arms weighed heavy as Izuku bounced on the balls of his feet. Even though there were only two or three sheets, the weight was in his own head because of the words and phrases that he had written on them. There were twenty five reasons he had carefully written in his best penmanship, with his best pen, each considered just as carefully as he would consider anything else.

Father's gaze was as intimidating as it had always been his entire life, despite the mess of tubes that connected him to life support for the past five years.

Eventually, he sighed wearily and his lips twitched up. "Is this about taking a more active role in the family business?"

Izuku lifted his chin and squared his shoulders. This was it, his opening. If he had been busy, father would have dismissed him instantly or told him to talk with mother.

Calmly, he laid the papers on top of the desk, on top of the other papers that he was surely browsing through for the family business, and then he took a step back. He had rehearsed his speech with Tomura-nii, several times in fact, until Tomura-nii had shouted at him to "stop bugging me already with your whiny insecurity and just say it to him!"

So.

It must be good enough by now.

"Yes, father, it is about taking a more active role. Please listen to me. I thought full every reason like you asked me to, and I truly believe that I would be an asset to the family business."

Izuku bowed at forty-five degrees and then pulled his back straight again, waiting for permission to speak again. The last two times had ended badly because Izuku had mumbled or spoken too quickly; the ones before that he hadn't even considered why he wanted to help with the family business. Really, it was no wonder father told him no instantly.

This time though, Izuku was sure, would have a different outcome.

He even had mother's advice on the reasons.

Father sank back into the chair and gestured with his hand, a little circle—the universal sign to continue on with the explanation. "You have five minutes to present your case. After that, you are welcome to join me for lunch, but I will not listen to insistent pleading if there is no depth to it."

"Right," Izuku said quickly. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. That was less time than he would have hoped for, but that was all right. "Reason one why you should consider allowing me to participate more fully in the family business is that I'm plain. Most heroes would not suspect me of all people to be involved with the family business."

"There are plenty of people who are plain in our family, Izuku. Your mother, for example. Kurogiri."

"Mother is retired and Kurogiri is already known by the heroes," Izuku replied swiftly. "I'm not. It would be easy for me to stay under the radar and get more stuff done quietly."

"You might be unknown now, but that is because your mother and I have kept you out of our affairs. As soon as you step into that world, pro heroes will know you are my son."

Izuku frowned but didn't allow that to perturb him. "I'm also smart and clever. I'd be good at convincing people to listen to our side, to join our mission, without using extortion."

"Why would we need to charm them to listen to us when they respect the power we hold over them?"

"Because we want them to not fear us?" Izuku suggested. He was getting off-track, his points carried away into explanations he hadn't planned, he was losing time to convince his father. "I don't know about you father, but I'd rather they not think our family is cruel unnecessarily. That would just drive them to the side of the heroes or other villains such as Overhaul."

His father sighed, stood, and walked around the desk. "This is why I don't want you involved with the family business, Izuku. You're too compassionate to consider that our less savory business partners would take advantage of that. Your brother understands that, he is far more ruthless than you are, which is why he is the heir."

Izuku frowned, because he hadn't even gotten five minutes and his father had already dismissed his efforts, even though he hadn't finished explaining to him. It didn't look like he was going to change his mind anytime soon though.

"Will you at least look at the list I wrote down for you?" he asked.

"Of course I shall look at it, but I make no promises to change my stance on your involvement anytime soon. You're too young to understand the responsibility of the family business."

Izuku faked a smile and nodded, pretending that he was happy that father was at least considering it. But it was hard to feel happy when he didn't really have a chance to explain.

"Come now, don't be so disappointed," father said, reaching over to put his hand on his shoulder. Izuku tilted his head back and studied the side of his face. "I know you wish to help us, but it's not needed right now, especially since you're quirkless."

"You could always give me a quirk?" Izuku suggested, unable to leave the hopeful tone out of his voice. Father chuckled.

"No, no, not now, Izuku. Later."

It was always later. Even as a child, when Izuku had talked to him about which quirks were interesting and could he have it, father, could he have that quirk, please father? father had always said to ask him again when he was older.

Izuku was fourteen years old now, almost fifteen. And still…

"How about lunch?" father asked, with a smile—or, at least, Izuku assumed it was a smile. It was difficult to tell when his entire face was covered with that breathing mask.

"Yeah, okay." Izuku straightened his shoulders and faked a smile. He didn't want to be scolded for being selfish. "Lunch sounds good."

* * *

Izuku opened the door without knocking and flopped down onto Tomura-nii's bed, throwing his hand over his eyes.

"Hey, get out! I never said you could come in." His brother yelled, kicking at his shoulders with his feet. He was holding a book up between his covered hands, wearing the gloves he had bought him for his birthday to keep stuff from dissolving when he was using all five of his fingers. Izuku sighed dramatically and threw his arm across his eyes.

"He said no. Again."

"Of course he would say no. You're quirkless." Tomura-nii gave up trying to push him off his bed though, pulling his feet up and underneath him. He looked like he had eaten a sour lemon. "Are you going to get out of my room now?"

"I wouldn't be quirkless if father just gave me a quirk."

"Clearly, he doesn't see a use for you having one."

"I wish I had one. Maybe then I wouldn't be so useless."

Tomura-nii's exasperation melted away and his eyebrows furrowed together. He set the book onto his end table. "Is Bakugou being cruel to you again? You only call yourself that word when he acts up."

"You know Kacchan isn't mean to me. He's the only friend I've got."

"He calls you Deku."

"And I call him Kacchan."

Tomura-nii groaned. "You know what? I'm not even going to bother arguing with you about this. You're being too defensive about your so-called best friend. Have you considered dad just wants to keep you on the sidelines to protect you?"

"He doesn't keep you on the sidelines and you have a quirk," Izuku muttered under his breath.

"You have his name. I don't." He stated simply. Izuku didn't have a response to that—it was always so hard to talk to Tomura when the subject of their last names and his adoption into the family was brought up, so he always stayed quiet.

"What are you reading?" Izuku asked instead, propping his chin into his fist. He was still lying across the bed, but now he was laid on his side instead of his back.

"Porn."

"What?" Tomura-nii smirked and Izuku jumped off the bed, landing funnily on his tailbone. He rubbed the sore area gingerly, grimacing when it hurt.

"Just kidding. I'm reading about how heroes started their oppression. The government really spreads this propaganda… they don't even mention how a hero stole from us first in their official textbooks. I mean, what the fuck? They're missing the point of this centuries old conflict."

That rant was nothing new to Izuku by this point. However, before he had a chance to respond to it with his own opinion, someone knocked on the door and opened it slowly.

"Tomura, dinner will be ready in half an hour, so come down when it's— oh, Izuku? What are you doing in here?"

Mom tilted her head to the side and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. Her eyes slid away from Tomura to him and her identical green softened as they always did when she looked at him. It was always hard to imagine that his mother was the infamous villain Iron Will, who was rumored to be almost cruel and once reigned with father as his right-hand. Now, she was an ordinary housewife.

Though, to Izuku, she was everything but ordinary.

"I was talking to Tomura-nii."

"I see…" She smiled at him. "Would you like to join me in making dinner? It's katsudon night."

"Oh, sure!" Izuku bounced onto his feet, because the only thing he loved more than katsudon was cooking it with mom as was their tradition, and he tossed a smile over his shoulder at his brother. "Thanks for talking to me, nii-san."

Tomura-nii's lips twitched. To most people, it would look more like a neutral stare than a threatening scowl, but it was as good a smile as he was going to get. "Whatever. Knock next time before you come in though."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Oh, Tomura!" His mom's expression lit up, as if she was remembering something she had just forgotten. "When you're finished with your history assignment, would you mind coming downstairs to help us set the table?"

Izuku watched as Tomura-nii's small, almost not there, smile slip off his face entirely. He always liked talking to father the most, treating mom a bit more coolly for some reason. Izuku rolled his eyes and walked out the door, because sometimes Tomura was petty over the stupidest things.

He never wanted to help with anything—just wanted to stay holed up in his room all day if he could.

"Yeah. Sure. I'll help."

"Thank you dear. We'll leave you alone."

Izuku waited for mom to shut the door with a soft click, somewhat patiently even though he had to stop himself from tapping his foot against the ground. She smiled down at him and ruffled his hair as she passed him.

"So, what were you talking to your brother about?"

"Nothing much," Izuku said with a shrug. "I was mostly complaining because father wouldn't let me help with the family business."

"You know he has his reasons, right? He wants to protect you… our line of business isn't particularly known for its safety."

"I know," Izuku sighed. "I just wish he would let me help sometimes. I'm not a child anymore. I feel guilty because I'm basically useless and I can't do anything, since I'm quirkless…"

"You're fourteen, Izuku." His mom's voice was warm with humor, and Izuku flushed. "You have time to grow into your role as you become older, don't worry."

"I'm not a dead weight, am I?"

"Never. You're our most precious son."

"I thought that was Tomura-nii?"

"He is special to us as well," mom agreed with a nod and a distant look in her eyes.

"Hmm." Izuku studied her for a long moment, but he said nothing. Tomura-nii was… Tomura-nii. He was special all right.

Mom smiled down at him, mysteriously, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she changed the subject to— "Would you like pork or chicken?"

"Pork, obviously."

* * *

Kacchan was waiting for Izuku to arrive at the corner of their street, where they met daily to make the trek to and from school together. His demeanor was calm as he slouched against the wall, earbuds in his ears and phone in his hand as he scrolled through what Izuku assumed was a playlist.

He looked up when Izuku approached and pulled the earbuds out. "You're late, Deku. Like always."

"Sorry," Izuku replied, like always. Kacchan rolled his eyes and knocked his shoulder against his, a bit too hard to be considered friendly.

"Let's get a move on. I can't afford to be late and have it on my record. It'll fuck up my chances to get into UA if something shows up and I'm not going to let your tardiness screw my future over."

Izuku rolled his eyes, because they had twenty minutes before school started and it only took ten minutes to walk there, but he agreed. "Did you read about how All Might saved all those people the other day from that collapsing building?"

Kacchan nodded, setting a brisk pace in the direction of their school. He pulled the earbuds out of his phone, storing them in his backpack, and shoving the phone into the pockets of his sagging pants.

"Yeah. After he defeated the villain who caused that structural damage during their fight, he still had enough time to go inside and save everyone in there. While it was collapsing. It was so cool."

"It's impressive how he managed to save everyone in time," Izuku said, honestly, because it was. He'd never say it to anyone in his family, to anyone who wasn't Kacchan, but he admired the way All Might smiled when he saved those people.

"I'll be like him someday, the number one hero." There was no doubt in Kacchan's voice about it, and if there was anything about his best friend, it was that he was driven and talented. If anyone could overthrow All Might from his status as the Symbol of Peace, the number one hero, then it would be Kacchan.

It was almost a shame that they were on completely opposite sides.

While Kacchan, who was born from a perfectly ordinary family with an unusually powerful quirk, would surge through the hero ranks and eventually become the number one hero, Izuku was the son of the most powerful villain in the underworld, Hisashi Midoriya, who was better known as All for One. It was in his blood and the way he was raised, to become a villain.

But then… it wasn't like Kacchan would accept him, the quirkless Deku, becoming a hero and challenging his story. Izuku was just a side character who he had deemed as not dumb.

"You will," Izuku agreed. "You'll be better than him one day, Kacchan."

Kacchan looked at him out of the corner of his eyes and his lips quirked up. It wasn't a smile, but it wasn't a smirk either. "If you weren't quirkless, maybe I'd let you be my sidekick."

"If I wasn't quirkless…" Izuku echoed. If only he wasn't quirkless. Maybe then his parents would let him help with the family business. He knew he had valuable resources to offer them, wanted to help them; he was smart and he was clever. But he was quirkless, because father wouldn't give him a quirk.

"Did you know that All Might has been spotted apprehending villains in our prefecture?" Kacchan asked, changing the subject. Izuku shook his head.

"No, I didn't," he lied. He'd stayed up to three in the morning reading the articles online and watching the video playback of All Might saving the civilians from one of father's more 'unsavory' business partners. Kacchan smirked, clearly seeing right through him. "I thought he was in Tokyo a couple days ago?"

"Apparently not. The Hero Feed said he just showed up here yesterday afternoon." He mimicked one of All Might's punches, throwing in several small explosions for good measure. "He must have business with UA or something."

"Or something," Izuku agreed. It wasn't like All Might suspected father was alive after that he hurt him so badly five years ago. Any other man would be dead after a blow like that. "Say, did you understand the math worksheet that sensei gave to us? I don't remember learning how to complete them."

Kacchan rolled his eyes. "Sensei gave it to us early because he had to go to a conference, Deku. The substitute teacher was going to explain how to do it today."

"Oh."

Kacchan laughed. It was one of his typical mean, mocking laughs. Izuku might have felt hurt by it, but he was used to it by now. "Seriously Deku, did you zone out again in class? You're not going to get into any high school at this rate."

Izuku tightened his grip on the backpack. "My grades are as high as yours, Kacchan. I just thought I might have missed it somehow."

"You're right, it's not your grades that's the problem, it's your quirklessness. I doubt any high school would take on a quirkless."

Izuku frowned. "That's mean, Kacchan. Quirks aren't everything."

Kacchan shrugged. "They are now. Maybe you'll get into one of those quirkless schools, where you'll learn to be a good housewife?"

He shuddered at the thought of being forced into a marriage just to graduate from high school. Most quirkless people ended up in those by default, but Izuku had no intention to go there, quirkless or not. The only person who might even beat him when it came to grades was Kacchan, and even then, they were pretty much equal in those as well.

He was smart. It was all he had running for him, since father wouldn't give him a quirk.

"No way would I apply to any of those schools."

Kacchan rolled his eyes. "No need to get so huffy about it. You'll probably get into a regular school."

"Oh, look. We're here." Izuku said, instead of responding. Kacchan widened the gap between them and scowled, and Izuku sighed. Even though Kacchan tolerated his presence more than anyone else's in the school, he still had his reputation to uphold.

Which meant not looking like he was enjoying being around the quirkless childhood friend too much.


	2. CHAPTER 02: PRECONCEPTION VS REALITY

**CHAPTER TWO: PRECONCEPTION/REALITY**

* * *

" **HELLO** , Hedero Viran. I don't need to introduce myself to you, do I?"

"No, no, sir. I recognize you loud and clear. I'm just surprised you'd call a small-time criminal like me."

"My call isn't simply for pleasure—I have a job for you that might catch your interest."

"Uh…? I don't understand what you mean."

"Let's put it this way, Viran. I need you to rob a store in the Musutafu area tomorrow around five in the afternoon. The underpass is a safe escape route for you to use. You will find backup as well as a means to lose any hero that chases you to bring you into police custody. I trust you understand what I mean now?"

"… I—yes, sir. And you'll provide a means for me to escape from any hero? Even All Might if he happens to be in our area?"

"Certainly. Is this agreeable?"

"Very much so. Thank you!"

"Good. Don't disappoint me."

The line clicked shut.

* * *

"Just UA?" Izuku asked, looking over Kacchan's shoulder and reading the worksheet he had filled out during class. "You're really confident you'll get into the Hero Course, aren't you? You're not even applying to the General Education course as a backup…"

"Of course I'll get in," said Kacchan with a scoff. He smirked. "I've trained my quirk to be perfectly suited for heroics. There's no way they'd turn me away for some half-assed extra who doesn't know how to use his own quirk."

Izuku sighed and leaned away from him. There was more to heroics than a flashy quirk, like the strength of heart and a desire to save, not just to win. Even he knew that, and he was raised to become a villain. But it wasn't like Kacchan would listen to him—he never really listened to him much anyway. "I'd wish you luck, but you probably don't need it."

"Damn right I don't." He pointed at himself and lit a small explosion in his fist for added emphasis. His control was incredibly precise though, Izuku would give him that. He had the drive and the talent, but Kacchan really did work hard to hone that talent into a sharpened blade. It was doubtless he would go far in whatever he decides to do. "What about you, Deku? Have you written anything down yet?"

"I don't even know where to apply to for school, let alone the kind of career I'd be eligible for." Izuku threw his arms in the air to emphasize his frustration. "There's nothing out there for me."

Kacchan scoffed. "Of course there's something out there for you. Someone has to take the boring jobs after all, and that someone might as well be you. You don't want to be a housewife, do you?"

"Never," he muttered under his breath. "I guess I'll talk to my parents and see if they have any ideas. There's got to be some school out there which will accept me."

Kacchan hummed and off-handedly said, "You might get lucky and get a quirk in your next life."

"And what should I do to get that? Take a swan dive off the roof?"

For a moment, there was a beat of silence—and then Kacchan smacked the back of his head with one of his hard textbooks. Izuku yelped, mostly from surprise, and rubbed the throbbing area.

"What the fuck, Deku?! Are you an idiot? Why would you think about doing it?"

"It was sarcastic, Kacchan! You know, sarcasm."

"If you actually followed through with it, it'd mess up my record and my chance to be a hero! If anyone heard—"

"Really?" Izuku asked. "You're more worried about your own image?"

Kacchan stopped yelling at him for a moment and stared at him. Izuku's stomach dropped. "Well, yeah. It's my future. It's not like I'll talk to you after I get into U.A. since you're quirkless."

Izuku scowled and stood up, ignoring the way his hands trembled. He pulled his backpack onto his shoulders.

"Deku? What are you doing—oi, I didn't say you could leave! Get back here!"

"That was mean, Kacchan. You need to learn to watch what you say." He snapped over his shoulder when he heard Kacchan stomp toward him with all his fire and fury and tactlessness.

He didn't want to have to defend himself from his teasing comments when the tears stinging at the corner of his eyes fell.

Luckily, Kacchan didn't follow him or try to hold him back as Izuku walked off the school grounds and turned left instead of right to take the long way back home. Which was something. Normally, Kacchan didn't give a damn about what he wanted or wished and just did whatever he felt like doing.

That's unfair, he reminded himself. Kacchan was his best friend. His remarks might have been callous, but he had been trying to make him feel better in his own way. Even if it was really, really mean of him.

Still, it was stupid getting upset over such thoughtless comments. Father would tell him that only weak individuals allowed those kinds of things to get to him. Mother would tell him to learn to live with what he was. Tomura-nii would laugh at him.

If people like Kacchan were lauded and praised as potential heroes, if there were heroes like Kacchan, then they weren't very heroic at all. Villainy got a bad reputation, but… if the alternative was heroism, which was selfish and conceited, then Izuku didn't really understand why villainy was viewed to be so terrible by society.

Heroes were…. Heroics was corrupt.

Pathetic.

Tears dripped off his nose and splashed against the pavement. Izuku brushed them away with his sleeve.

Like always.

Why am I such a crybaby?

* * *

After about five minutes of self-pity, Izuku sniffled one last time and dried the remains of his tears. He pulled out his phone and began to scroll through the school database. There were a lot of jobs offered in the workforce, and even though only quirked people got those, it was usually because most quirkless didn't even bother applying for those jobs.

It wasn't like they were prohibited from being in the workforce either… just highly discouraged. But then, most quirkless didn't even graduate from high school—unless they went to one of the special schools. And Izuku refused to go to those schools to learn how to be a good little housewife or whatever the equivalent was.

His grades were far above average. If he wasn't quirkless, he'd have his pick of whatever school he wanted to go to. He might even be able to get into UA's general education department, despite how competitive it was. But acceptance into that was always more luck than anything else.

He took a deep breath and let it go.

Father wouldn't let him help with the Family Business, but he might be able to sway the admission committees to the school he applies for to consider his application. Izuku wasn't dumb either.

There was just… so much he could do, if only father would let him. He wanted to help the Family Business and he wanted to show society the true face of the heroes they worshipped. It just was not allowed, because Tomura-nii was the heir and he was meant to stay on the sidelines for… something.

So frustrating.

A tall, blond man abruptly stopped in front of Izuku—except he looked more like a walking skeleton than a man, facial features hollowed and body gaunt—and he ran smack into him, knocking him over. Izuku flailed and tried to reach over to catch him, but it was too late.

He was plagued with a coughing fit so bad that it sounded like he was coughing up half a lung. Along with half of the blood in his body.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Izuku bowed repeatedly, almost in tears. "I wasn't paying attention—are you okay?"

"No, no, it's fine! I'm fine."

"But you were coughing blood!"

"That's normal," the man said, pulling himself back onto his feet on his own, even though he had offered out his hand for him to hold on to. Izuku shuffled on his feet, but he met his gaze and didn't look away—just like how father taught him.

Those eyes were so strange. The sclera of his eyes were black, but he wasn't sure if it was because they had sunken in from illness or because of the way the shadows lit his face.

"I'm fine," he repeated, a bit more softly, with a smile. "Don't worry, this is normal."

That's not fine, Izuku thought, but didn't say. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, thank you."

Izuku shuffled on his feet. "At least let me carry your groceries to the train station."

"It's all right, they're not heavy at all—" The man protested, and Izuku wasn't sure how to respond to that, because he looked like a strong enough gust of wind could knock him over.

"Please, I'm walking toward there as well, it's the least I could do—"

The man looked at him for a long time, and then he sighed loudly. His shoulders slumped. "You're quite stubborn, aren't you?" Izuku smiled. "That's not a compliment either, young man. Several people would take advantage of that."

"Please?" he repeated.

The man shook his head. "All right, you can carry those bags. Thank you."

"It's the least I could do," he replied. Because his mom would ground him for a month if she realized he knocked a man over and caused him to cough up so much blood. "I'm really sorry I knocked you over, by the way. Again. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings at all."

"All is forgiven. I shouldn't have stopped in the middle of the road anyway."

For such a feeble looking man, his strides were long and swift as his imposing figure cut through the crowds. Izuku had to take two strides to cover one of his. "Still…" he muttered under his breath. "My name is Midoriya, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you, Midoriya. Mine is Yagi."

For a while, they both just walked through the crowds, making small talk with each other after Izuku stopped apologizing every few sentences for knocking the man over. Inexplicably, he found himself relaxing in his company; despite how foreboding the man seemed, there was a charisma around him that made him feel comfortable.

In the corner of his eye, Izuku noticed a store that was practically bursting at the seams from the amount of hero merch spilling out of it. He must have stared at it for too long, because Yagi-san asked, "Are you interested in heroes?"

"Who isn't?"

Everyone was interested in heroes, for one reason or another. Some people, like Kacchan, admired heroes like All Might and aspired to become like them. Other people, like his parents, wanted to reveal the true colors of heroes and see the destruction of their society. Most people passively admired or hated heroes.

Whatever the reason was, everyone was interested in heroes. Izuku would be lying if he denied he did too.

"Do you want to become a hero, too?" Yagi-san asked.

Izuku barked a bitter laugh. "It's impossible for me."

"How come? Wanting to help others when they need it is the first step to become a hero."

His knuckles were starting to turn white from how tight he held the grocery bags, so he loosened his grip and sighed. "Yeah, right. I'm quirkless. I'll never be one. Besides, my family doesn't approve of them…"

"That's a shame."

Yagi-san seemed genuinely regretful, and for a moment, Izuku wondered what his occupation was—he seemed quite fond of heroes, but then, almost everyone was fond of heroes. Chewing into his bottom lip, he shrugged.

Everyone in his family were villains. It wasn't that much of a shame.

"Honestly, I don't think I'd really enjoy all the media attention on myself anyway."

"That's certainly understandable, but there are underground heroes like Eraserhead who avoid the media spotlight."

"Of course there are, but so much of heroics is now dependent on publicity and the money gained from that publicity. It's awfully shallow."

"Perhaps, but even heroes have to make enough income to support their families."

"They shouldn't have families in the first place though. Imagine if they died and left everyone they loved behind."

"That's a risk any person has to take as soon as they walk out the front door of their house."

"Yes, but they don't go walking through the jaws of death every other day like it heroics. Heroes can die any time at the hands of a villain. Not only that, but several of them are arrogant, which causes them to make mistakes. There's so much property damage done at the hands of heroes."

"Of course there is damage, but at least half of that damage is done by villains attacking them. If there were no villains in the first place, then heroes wouldn't be necessary. However, for as long there is a villain who wants to hurt innocent life, then there must be a hero who stops that villain."

The longer they walked, the more Izuku got into the debate, his free hand flailing here and there when he couldn't talk quick enough with his lips. The man was smiling.

At some point, Izuku found himself stopping in front of a large screen playing one of All Might's many fights, and he watched it. Yagi-san went quiet.

"Sometimes, I can't help but wonder what it's like to be a hero like him..." he said, half to himself, as All Might's smile burned into his retina. Because as much as he truly adored his family, as much as he wanted to be like them and support the Family Business in any way father would allow him, there was something about the way All Might carried himself…

* * *

Deep in the bowls of the city, evil lurked, waiting to lure it's next victim into its trap.

The thing was, Izuku wasn't going to become a victim.

* * *

At the train station, Izuku's phone rung with a message from his father to pick up a dozen eggs from the grocery store, so he waved at Yagi-san and split up.

Izuku walked into the dark tunnel and took a deep breath.

Well, he'd just have to work harder to prove them wrong and to get into a decent school. Eventually, father would see the sense in allowing him a more active role—

A groan.

He looked over his shoulder.

A villain!

Before he could react, globs of sludge enclosed his limbs and folded around his mouth, stopping him from screaming for help. He couldn't breathe. Sludge forced its way through his nose and mouth and down his throat, suffocating him. It burned.

I can't breathe, I can't breathe! He was losing all the strength in his body to fight back, his limbs failing him as he lost oxygen. Someone, anyone, help me! I'm going to die!

Tears stung his eyes.

He did not want to die.

"Do not worry, for I am here!"

What?

That was… All Might's voice. Izuku had heard it frequently enough to recognize it between Kacchan showing him videos during school hours and late at night when his family was asleep. But… All Might couldn't be here, surely? Was it just a figment of his imagination?

But it wasn't.

He heard All Might scream SMASH! and he felt the pressure from his fists as he knocked the Sludge Villain away. Izuku gasped when he could breathe, fell onto his hands and knees. Before he could process it, he was vomiting the sludge out of his lungs, choking on the tar-like substance. His nose stung. His throat hurt. Even though he kept blinking tears out of his eyes, they kept trailing down his cheeks.

A large hand fell onto his back and stayed there, holding him steady as he hurled up what had been forced into his stomach. He sobbed. His hands trembled. It felt like the sludge was holding him in its tentacles, forcing itself down his throat. He couldn't stop gagging.

"Easy there," the hero said, much quieter than he expected for him to be. "You'll be all right."

"S-sorry," he choked out, in-between. His muscles were coiled and ready for a fight, but All Might's hands were steady. Izuku tried not to think about how father would react once he realized what happened today.

"It's all right, my boy. Try to breathe with me, all right? One, two three, four…"

Eventually, he managed to force his breathing to match All Might's rhythm and his hands slowly stopped trembling. The final dregs of the panic attack clung to him, holding him down. He sat up.

"Do you want to get out of the tunnel? You might feel better once you're in the sunlight."

Izuku nodded.

"Do you need help?"

He shook his head and got to his own two feet on his own strength. As soon as he took one step forward though, his knees crumpled and he would have collapsed if All Might hadn't caught him.

"Sorry," he said, again, as All Might lifted him into his arms and carried him out of the tunnel. He tried to convince his muscles to relax and tried to tell his mind that All Might would not recognize him as the child of his mortal enemy.

"It's not your fault. What happened to you was very frightening, so the way you're reacting right now is very reasonable." He sat him down on the ground, in the grass, about fifty feet away from the entrance to the tunnel.

All Might was… kinder than he expected.

"Thank you," he said, pulling his knees to his chest and hugging them. His heart was still racing in his chest, pounding so hard he thought that it might burst. He looked up and met All Might's gaze. At the smile he got, he managed to twitch his lips up. "For saving me. I got… really lucky."

Then he paused.

Wait… those eyes… I know those eyes. "Yagi-san?" he asked, hesitantly, and looked down at the bags the man was carrying on his arm—the same bags Yagi-san had been carrying before Izuku knocked into him, and the very same bags Izuku himself had carried.

All Might's eyes widened.

"W-wha—no, that's not— my name isn't—I don't even know who this Yagi is."

He's a terrible liar, Izuku realized. He watched All Might steadily.

A few heartbeats passed where Izuku didn't look away from All Might and All Might tried to look everywhere except at him, but then the hero sighed. Smoke wafted off his body and then—

He narrowed, the muscles disappearing from his frame like water sliding over a body. Izuku tried not to show his shock when Kacchan's childhood idol turned into the thin, skeletal man that he had walked into and had half-bullied into carrying his groceries. It likely wasn't entirely successful, since All Might—Yagi-san?—smiled at him with no teeth.

So… strange.

"Uh," Izuku said, very intelligently. "You shrunk. How? Wait, what? How did you go from—from—" Izuku vaguely gestured with his hands, spreading his arms wide, and then he brought them close together. "—to that? Um… wait, that came out ruder than I meant—I'm sorry!""

After he secured the jars against his belt, All Might sat down in front of him with a heavy thud and lifted his shirt. Underneath, there was a wound of matted scar tissue.

Izuku cringed.

"This is a wound I got about five years ago when I fought a villain. The result was the total destruction of my stomach along with part of my respiratory system. Currently, I can't work actively as a hero for more than three hours a day."

Half remembered conversations came back to Izuku from when father had been gravely injured—five years ago. Mom hadn't seemed to be very worried about him despite how those injuries would have been fatal to any other human being, but Tomura-nii had been beside himself with worry, throwing tantrums left and right.

After that, he had gotten quiet.

"Oh," he said, softly.

"What I told you was never told to the public, therefore, I ask you to please hold this information to yourself. The symbol of peace who saves people with a smile must cannot bow to the forces of evil. When I laugh, it's to trick the fear inside of me."

All Might stared at him with those glowing, sunken eyes, but even like this, Izuku felt very, very small at the aura of hidden strength radiating out of his beaten, weak form. He couldn't look away.

… he's… he's… "What's it like, being a hero?" he whispered.

"Difficult sometimes," said All Might. "It's hard and often lonely, but knowing that people rest easily at night because I am here makes it worth it."

Izuku didn't know how to respond to that, but it wasn't necessary as a crowd rounded the corner and walked toward them. All Might—Yagi-san—stood up and held out his hand.

"How are you feeling now?"

"A little better. I think it might have been the adrenaline." he admitted. His hands weren't trembling anymore. "Thank you for saving me though. I…" I didn't want to die. "That was… it was terrifying."

Someone bumped into All Might, causing him to stumble and move out of the way of the foot traffic. Izuku frowned.

"I need to take this villain to the police station, but I can call someone to help you home if you want."

Izuku shook his head politely. Father's number one rule was to avoid attracting the attention of the police as much as possible. Rule number two was to not forget rule number one. "No, thank you. I'll be fine."

All Might frowned a little. "At least call a friend to walk home with you? It's not safe to walk around without a friend, in general."

"I usually walk home with my best friend, Kacchan, but we had an argument and I… kind of went off on my own."

All Might nodded. "I see… I'm sorry to hear about that. Will you try to make up with him?"

Izuku didn't like the idea of looking back in front of the number one pro-hero, so he nodded slowly. "Probably."

He stood up on his own power and took a step. His knees didn't buckle so he took that as a good sign. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." He insisted, because All Might looked… worried. Which was a bit strange, because he didn't really think heroes really worried about the people they rescued after the immediate danger was over.

But this was All Might. Clearly, he was one of the few pro-heroes that cared. Maybe that was why father hated him as much as he did.

It took a couple more minutes after that, but Izuku eventually managed to convince the hero that he was going to be fine if he walked home alone. It wasn't even that far from here, barely five minutes away.

"Midoriya," All Might said suddenly, after they turned around and traced their steps, and Izuku looked up at him. "You have a bright mind. You'll get into a good school."

Izuku blinked.

How… perceptive. I don't even remember saying I was worried about that.

He smiled a bit. "Thank you," he said, genuinely.


End file.
